A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of journalist İrem Delice under the country’s controversial disinformation law after prosecutors challenged her earlier release over a social media post headlined “Erdoğan died” that referred to a local woman who shared the president’s surname, Turkish media reported.
Delice, a reporter for the local Aydın Denge newspaper in western Turkey, was detained last week along with the newspaper’s legal representative, Emin Aydın, managing editor Yeşim Ülker and reporter İslam Keleş on suspicion of “publicly disseminating misleading information” under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code.
The prosecutor’s office sought the arrest of all four journalists, but a criminal magistrate of peace initially released them under judicial supervision.
The Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office subsequently objected to the decision, prompting a new detention order for Delice. She was taken before a criminal magistrate of peace, who ordered her arrest.
The investigation concerns a Facebook post by Aydın Denge announcing the death of Gülşen Erdoğan. The post featured a black image bearing the words “Erdoğan Vefat Etti” (Erdoğan died), while the accompanying report identified the deceased as Gülşen Erdoğan.
Aydın Denge said Delice had posted the item on social media and that the shortened wording was used because Gülşen Erdoğan’s full name did not fit the template used for the image. The newspaper said the post concerned a death announcement and denied any intention to refer to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Introduced in 2022, Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code, commonly known as the disinformation law, requires prison sentences of one to three years for those found guilty of publicly spreading false information in a way that causes concern, fear or panic among the public.
The law has prompted widespread criticism from press freedom and rights groups, which say its vague wording gives authorities broad powers to investigate and prosecute journalists and social media users over reporting and online commentary.
According to Expression Interrupted, a press freedom monitoring group, 19 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey. The country’s deteriorating media landscape was further pointed out in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where it was ranked 163rd out of 180 nations.
